Kamal Grant is the king of doughnuts. The Sublime Doughnuts creator has written a new book called Homemade Doughnuts: Techniques and Recipes for Making Sublime Doughnuts in Your Home Kitchen. We spoke with Grant about his love of doughnuts, some of his best (and worst) creations, and why anyone can truly make a doughnut.
Kamal, what is your favorite doughnut?
I love peanut butter and chocolate, I always loved Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup as a kid. So, my favorite doughnut is the chocolate cake doughnut with peanut butter glaze or peanut butter icing.
What would you say to people who think that making doughnuts is too difficult?
I would say that is why we make doughnuts for you here at Sublime Doughnuts! But honestly, making doughnuts doesn’t have to be too difficult it just takes a little time and patience.
What have been some of your best (and worst) doughnut creations?
The fresh strawberries and creme is one of the best doughnut creations I have made, it’s one of the crowd favorites here at Sublime. The chocolate ganache beignets and the peanut butter cup are also great. But one of the worst doughnut that was made was the first version of the salt and vinegar doughnut. It was terrible, we used actual salt and vinegar. But that’s what experimenting is for. Eventually, the ingredients were replaced with salted caramel and reduced balsamic vinegar. And now what used to be one of the worst doughnuts made is a huge hit.
Why did you open a second store in Bangkok, and what was the experience like?
People in Bangkok really like sweets. And it has always been my dream to spread doughnut love around the world.
What are some ways that parents can make lower-calorie/healthier doughnuts?
You can buy a doughnut mold baking pan and bake the doughnuts.
Are you a purist in that you only make round doughnuts, or do you venture into other shapes, like square, etc?
I like to make doughnuts in all sorts of shapes. I’m a purist in that I believe doughnuts are fried dough. But they don’t have to be perfectly round. Here at Sublime, we have star and heart shaped doughnuts. We even have daily orders spelling out Happy Birthday in doughnut letters.
What are some of the signature doughnuts at Sublime Doughnuts (like the strawberry n cream)?
Our signature doughnut is the A-town creme, which represents the beautiful city of Atlanta. It’s a vanilla pastry creme filled doughnut shaped like the letter A. Our other signature doughnut is the orange dream star. It’s a star shaped doughnut with a citrus glaze and vanilla creme inside, it tastes like an orange creamsicle ice cream bar.
What are your plans for the future?
My plan for the future is to hopefully open more Sublime Doughnuts globally.
Finally, which spelling do you prefer: doughnut or donut, and why?
I believe in the spelling “doughnut”. This spelling is the first actual record of the word on paper. It is believed to have been written by Washington Irving in 1809. The spelling “donut” was popularized by Dunkin Donuts.